History

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Incarnations and early
tours

The Glee Club has undergone many changes since its inception.
Once only a group of six or eight men usually from only one
academic class, it has grown into a group of 100 men representing
the majority of the schools and colleges at the University of
Michigan. During the 1860s and 1870s, there were separate Glee
Clubs, which usually numbered somewhere in the tens or twenties,
for each graduating class. In 1876, the classes came together to
form the University Glee Club, which numbered eight men during its
first year and then jumped to sixteen the next year. In 1890, the
Glee Club was joined by a banjo
club and in 1897 by a mandolin club, and during the 1890s and the
first few years of the twentieth century, there was also a Freshmen
Glee Club. The name of the group also changed with the addition of
the ensembles; for example, in 1897 the group was called the
University Glee, Banjo, and Mandolin Club. In 1905, the Banjo Club
ceased to exist, and in 1923, the Mandolin Club also dropped from
the group, which became simply the University of Michigan Glee
Club. Due to the increasing popularity of the Girl's Glee Club in
the 1930s, the group was renamed the University of Michigan
Men's Glee Club in 1938, and in 1944 the group added
"Varsity" to the title, although this was dropped four years later.
Finally, as an indicator of the cautious and businesslike 1980s the
group added "Inc." to its official name in 1989.

During the founding of the Michigan Union in the early 1900s, Union
Operas were held to raise money
for the proposed building. Women were not allowed to act in these
operas, so men played all the parts. Thus, the Glee Club played a
prominent role in the operas, providing many of the singers and
several of the composers.
In fact, some of today’s favorite Glee Club songs, such as "The Bum
Army" and "Ann Arbor Days", were originally written for the
Michigan Union Operas.

For a great part of the twentieth century, the Glee Club
continued to expand its membership, maintaining a presence on the
local entertainment scene, and continuing the tradition of touring
set forth by their earlier counterparts. Tours in the early
twentieth century were usually undertaken during Christmas break.
These tours were by train, and the Glee Club manager would
communicate with concert sponsors through telegrams. Most of these
were local, but the Glee Club did take some extended tours, such as
the "prairie states" tour in 1926 and 1941. This was the last tour
for some time, as World War II had broken out; the six-year
hiatus that followed (1942-1947) was the longest gap without tours
in the twentieth century.

The Duey Years and Later
Tours

Under the tenure of Philip Duey, who conducted the Glee Club
from 1947 to 1969, the Club's recognition expanded into the
national and international spheres aided by overseas tours and
broad media attention. Through radio, television, recordings, and
motion pictures, Duey made a national name for the Michigan Men’s
Glee Club. In 1954, the Glee Club provided the music for an RKO film, Songs
of the Colleges, which featured scenes from colleges and
universities from around the country. In the fall of 1951, the Glee
Club started the tradition of performing joint concerts with the
Glee Club of a football opponent when they invited the Cornell Glee Club to Ann Arbor. The Glee Club
had not previously had the membership base or the financial
resources to attempt an international trip, but in the spring of
1955, a four-week trip to Western Europe was undertaken. Highlights
included an appearance at the American Embassy in Rome and a performance before Queen Juliana of The Netherlands.
Dick Bailin, historian for the 1955 tour, recounts the events of
that day:

"Finally, we arrive at The Hague, home of the Dutch government
and a city in its own right. There is time to spare, so we eat our
first meal in Europe--a full three-course dinner for $ .60! At last
the Club piles into the bus and drives on to the City Hall. Here we
wait in hushed expectation, and finally it happens--the Queen
herself appears on the steps and the large crowd of Dutch people
gathered around us applauds wildly. The Glee Club sings three
songs, including the Dutch National Anthem, and while Dr. Duey is
being presented to the Queen, numerous carefully concealed cameras
are whipped out and many pictures are taken. Thus our tour starts
in an exciting and illustrious way."

The European tour in 1959 commemorated the centennial of the
Glee Club. In addition to a four-week concert tour, which included
performances at the Free University in West Berlin, the group competed in the
International Musical
Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales. The tour was planned so that this
competition would be at the very beginning of the tour, but this
plan almost backfired as the boat they were traveling on (the S.S.
Seven Seas) was almost a day late getting into England. After a 3
a.m. arrival and only three hours sleep, the Glee Club became the
first American choir ever to win the male choir competition.

Awarded 4 first place awards, International Music Eisteddfod,
Wales

After winning the Llangollen prize in 1959, the Glee Club
planned four subsequent trips in which they stopped in Wales for
the competition. In 1963, a five-week tour included special
performances at the residence of the American Ambassador in Athens and the American Embassy
in London. The Glee Club once
again won the male choral division first place prize. In 1967, the
Glee Club celebrated the University’s sesquicentennial year by
embarking on a world concert tour between May and July, the longest
yet for the Glee Club. After traversing the world for eight weeks,
the Glee Club returned to Llangollen and took third place. In 1971,
the Glee Club returned to Europe under the direction of Willis
Patterson and won the male competition at the International Music Eisteddfod
yet again, and in 1978, this achievement was repeated under Leonard
Johnson. This victory in Wales marked the fourth time the Michigan
Men’s Glee Club had won the prize. Unfortunately, changes in the
school calendar and the fact that the competition is held in early
July have prevented the Club from attempting another victory.
However, to celebrate this accomplishment, the Glee Club gives out
four "Llangollen Awards" annually to members who embody the spirit
of this competition.

"The first [memory that I want to share] has to do with our
opening song [Laudes atque Carmina]. We were to appear on
Ed Sullivan's "Toast of the Town". We were permitted because of
time limitations to sing only two songs, but we wanted to sing our
traditional opening hymn also. Ed Sullivan said there wasn't
time--but like all loyal and resourceful Glee Clubbers, we hummed
it behind the curtain through the commercial and through the
introduction--the tradition was not broken."

The Modern
Era

In the 1980’s, under the direction of Patrick Gardner, the group
made appearances at Avery Fisher Hall in New York, the
pre-game festivities for the final game of the 1984 World
Series at Tiger Stadium, and at the
Intercollegiate Musical Council National Seminar at Harvard
University in 1986. One highlight occurred in 1983 when the Glee
Club, on their West Coast Tour, performed a concert in San Diego and sang The
Hymn and several other Michigan songs for Earl V. Moore - former Dean
of the School of Music and composer of numerous Michigan songs.

Under the direction of recent conductor, Jerry
Blackstone, the Michigan Men’s Glee Club embarked on four major
overseas tours. In 1989 the Glee Club spent three weeks touring
Asia with concerts in Hong
Kong, Japan, and South Korea. In 1992
the Club embarked on a trip to Eastern Europe, where they were one
of the first American groups to visit the new country of Estonia, which had recently
declared independence from the defunct Soviet Union. 1996 brought the Club to
South America including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru,
and the Club most recently traversed Australia in 2000. The highlight of this tour
was the inaugural Men of Song Festival hosted by the Brisbane Boys’
College in which 132 young men participated in a workshop and joint
concert led by the Glee Club. Under Blackstone the Men’s Glee Club
has been well-reviewed around the world; the secretary of the
Warsaw Philharmonica exclaimed, "I was completely enchanted. It is
unbelievable that an amateur group could surpass our most
professional choirs with such ease of execution" A reviewer for
Voices, Journal of the Federation of Choral Music, Chile,
further remarked on this distinctive sound:

"They performed with a rich, expressive sound that never lost
its warmth, even in the most extreme ranges. A distinctive trait of
the group is its spontaneity, maintaining a fluency and uninhibited
manner...and a controlled dose of humor that earned the affection
of the audience."

In 1989 a new constitution was adopted and in 1991 the first
annual Male Vocal Arts Day, a workshop for high school men, was
held. In the spring of 2001 the combined Men’s Glee Club and Smith
College Glee Club and Chorale gave a performance of Brahms’
Ein deutsches Requiem in Northampton, MA. The
following fall the endeavor was repeated in Hill Auditorium
with the Smith and Michigan Women’s Glee Clubs.

Stephen Lusmann led the Club from 2002-2005; highlights of his
tenure include an appearance at the IMC National Convention at
Harvard University, a sixteen day tour of Great Britain and Ireland in 2004 and the club's premiere
performance at Carnegie Hall with the Smith College Glee
Club in 2005. The Club is now under the direction of Paul Rardin as it
approaches its sesquicentennial in 2009.